The US writers' strike

So we're into the third month of the writers' strike in America - will it end?

There have been a few deals and absent negotiations, but this is really grim stuff. Shows like Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy have aired all pre-strike episodes (Grey's got to 11) and even if it's resolved in the next month it'll be a push for them to whack out the rest of the episodes.

It's desperate times, especially for fans (and actors!) but it's possible there is no end in sight and the American TV season will continue and end with no new episodes.

This sort of thing would never happen in the UK, because we operate differently to the States. But do you favour a switch to 'seasons' of programming like in America? I quite like the idea of seasons of programming beginning in September and ending in May, with a gap in between for Summer programming. But with longer series, we'd need to switch to shows with multiple writers, which could leave us with a similar strike somewhere down the line. Plus - we arguably haven't the budgets to achieve what America can.

The American television industry is - or was - a lot more structured and stable than ours, which has rough Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter 'seasons' and varying series lengths.

What does everyone think of the writers' strike and the US TV industry in general?

Longer running seasons as opposed to series is too expensive a proposition for the UK, and it means having writing teams instead of the one or two writers per show we do here. Also there isn't enough money generated from TV or overseas sales to recoup the huge investments needed.

The US writers are quite possibly shooting themselves in the foot -- if the networks realise that they make just as much money out of yet more game shows and reality crap, that's the path they will take.

Upshot -- fewer US drama series.

The 2 sides are talking again so there may be hope on the horizon.

If such a thing did happen over here I don't think anyone would really notice and or care. Most of our Dramas sound like they've been written by 5 year olds anyway.

Well the US networks must be desperate - CBS are putting The Price is Right in primetime!


I think unless it's resolved in the next week or two the second half of the season can be written off completely, but if resolved there probably would be time to get the 6 or so episodes out in time for the finale season in May.


The main thing it's affecting now is pilots for next year - the simply isn't really the time to get them produced in time for the traditional upfronts season - and NBC have gone as far now as declaring they won't be commissioning pilots in the future. Instead they'll select shows based solely on scripts, and then put them straight to air.



As for season length, well the standard is now getting longer than it was a few episodes. Most series now are commissioned for 8-12 episode runs, rather than just the 6, and a few series such as Shameless and Waterloo Road are getting even longer runs.


If channels wanted them they could easily commission longer series - after all you've got the soaps on day in, day out, and all year series like Casualty, Holby and The Bill, plus the occasional longer run drama such as Heartbeat.

And with establishing new drama becoming more and more difficult, I think series length will get longer in the future.

It's showing in the late night talk shows not just in the writing but because some stars are boycotting them as guests. Letterman and Craig Ferguson both have writers due to the deal letterman's company did with the Writers Guild but the others don't.

'The Daily Show', is now called 'A Daily Show' and Stephen Colbert aren't too bad as they are writer/performers and the guests are mainly plugging authors. But Jay Leno has been resorting to interviewing other talk show hosts. So the other week Jay Leno had Jimmy Kimmel on his programme on NBC and then half hour later on ABC Jimmy had Jay as a guest!

MSNBC are reporting that there has been a breakthrough in the WGA strike talks.

"...could lead to a tentative deal as early as next week, a person close to the negotiations said Saturday"

MSNBC

It is also breaking news on Sky News.

The thought of an Oscars Press Conference must be foremost in a lot of people's minds...